Paul responded to this question in the very beginning of this letter by proclaiming that the message of the gospel reveals that reality that God is right. After proclaiming his belief that the message of the gospel reveals that reality that God is right, Paul then proceeds to provide the evidence to prove that God is right. Throughout the book of Romans, we discovered that the fact that God is right is revealed by humanities problem of selfishness and rebellion, by God's response of rescue to the problem of selfishness and rebellion, and by God's sovereign plan and dealings with the Jewish people throughout their history.
However, as with any plan, God’s sovereign plan calls for a response from His followers. The fact that God has rightly acted and intervened in history to provide forgiveness and rescue should result in a response by His followers. So, for the next five weeks, we are going to see Paul reveal for us the timeless reality that the fact that God is right is revealed by how followers of Jesus practice their faith. When followers of Jesus live a life that genuinely and authentically puts into practice the message and teachings of Jesus, we are used by God to reveal that He is right. We will discover timeless practices that followers of Jesus should be practicing in our daily lives. And as we go through this section of the book of Romans, my hope and prayer is that we would embrace and live out these practices in our day to day lives so that God’s kingdom mission would advance and His reputation would be enhanced. So let’s begin this series by looking together at Romans 12:1:
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Paul begins this section of his letter by strongly appealing and urging the members of the church at Rome to respond to the fact that God is right. In light of the God’s response of rescue from selfishness and sin through Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection; In light of God’s activity through the history of the Jewish people, God has been revealed to be right. And the fact that God is right should result in a response from His followers. Paul then reveals exactly how followers of Jesus should respond God’s rightness and response of rescue: “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
And it is here that we see revealed for us a timeless practice that followers of Jesus should put into practice in their lives. And that timeless practice is this: Followers of Jesus practice a lifestyle of worship that pleases God. The phrase “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice” in the language this letter was originally written in, literally means to offer your bodies as a living act of worship. When Paul use the phrase “spiritual service of worship” this phrase refers to a carefully thought through act of worship. As followers of Jesus, we are to respond to God’s transformational activity in our lives through Jesus Christ by living in a way that is worthy of God as an act of worship to God that is pleasing to God.
You see, worship, simply put, is a response. Worship is a response that is focused on who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised to do. Worship is not simply singing, reading your Bible and prayer, although it can involve singing, Bible reading, and prayer. Worship is a lifestyle; worship is a life that is lived in a way that is focused on and that responds to God’s character and activity in the world.
And in Romans 12, we see Paul reveal four aspects of a lifestyle of worship that followers of Jesus should practice in their lives. First, in Romans 12:1-2, we see that followers of Jesus are to practice a lifestyle of worship that pleases God through our response of surrender. Paul here is urging the members of the church at Rome, and us here this morning, to respond to who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised to do by making a life time decision, through prayer, to tell God that all of your life is His. This is a one time commitment to practice a lifestyle that reflects a response of worship that pleases God.
Paul then unpacks what such a response of surrender looks like in verse 2. As followers of Jesus, we should not model our lifestyle after the times that we live in, we not to embrace and be shaped by this world, which are the different worldviews that are prevalent in the culture around us. Instead, we are to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Our response of surrender results in God transforming and changing our way of thinking by the power of the Holy Spirit. And as a result of the Holy Spirit’s transformation of our inward way of thinking, we will be able to evaluate and draw a conclusion as to what God’s good standards and desires are for our lives. Paul’s point here is that when we practice a lifestyle of worship that responds by committing to live a life that is surrendered to God, the Holy Spirit transforms our way of thinking and mindset in a way that results in us being able to recognize and become aligned with God’s desires for our lives.
Now, here is a question to wrestle with: As a follower of Jesus, is there an aspect of your life that is displeasing to God? Could it be that the reason that there are parts of our lives that are displeasing to God is because we have never made the decision to practice a lifestyle of worship that has responded to God by surrendering all of our lives to God?
Tomorrow, we will see Paul reveal a second aspect of a lifestyle of worship that followers of Jesus should practice in their lives...
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